Filling In
by Diego Zeyon
Summary: When Mew is given time off for a vacation, the soul of a helpful Raichu is pulled in to take her place. Now he has to deal with god-sized politics, prejudices, and the personality changes that come with being Mew's substitute. On official hiatus.
1. Prologue: On the Way to Heaven

A/N: Well... Here goes nothing.

Pokemon and all related official persons/objects/ideas does not belong to me in the least. However, any original persons/objects/ideas within the story that don't belong to anyone else belong to me. Yeah.

I am aware that the accent mark above the e is missing. At the moment, I can't fix that, but I will as soon as I am able. Also note that the beliefs of the characters do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the author.

Genders, just so you know up front (and so I have an easier reference, har, har):

Arceus-M; Giratina, Mew, Celebi-F; Lugia-F; Ho-Oh-M; Moltres, Zapdos-M; Articuno-F; Entei, Raikou-M; Suicune-F; Groudon-M; Kyogre-F; Rayquaza-M; Darkrai-M; Cresselia, Mesprit -F; Azelf, Uxie-M; Jirachi, Manaphy-M; Phione-F. All four of the Regis, being golems, are genderless; and Mewtwo and Deoxys, while technically legendaries, do not fit into the Pokemon pantheon as deities and are therefore irrelevant.

As A final note, I use the following formatting system:

"Double quotes" for any human text OR Pokemon text in cases where spoken language is irrelevant / There are no humans around to, as it were, "fail to understand them."

'_Single quotes in italics_' denotes translated Pokemon speech when spoken language DOES matter.

_Italics_ denote thoughts and telepathic quotations.

+Plus signs+ signify the narrator of the segment/chapter.

Readygo!

* * *

**Playing God**

_Prologue - On the Way to Heaven_

+Mew+

People think that when you die, Arceus willing, you go straight to Heaven. Or wherever you were supposed to end up. This is incorrect. You don't 'fall asleep' and wake up at your Final Destination.

Death, or what I've learned of it, having never died, is actually prefaced by a choice--you can go, or your can't. If you want to stay, you stay, but that in itself is as much damnation as Giratina's Hell because you can never leave once you stay. If you decide to go, you still have to _get _there. What was his name... Buddha? That human had the right kind of idea, except that it's a whole lot easier once you're dead.

But sometimes you run into obstacles. Metaphysical ones, like guilt or anger. And sometimes, but rarely, you can get your tail (or, barring that, some other appendage) stuck purely by the power of the living who do not want you to die.

Or so Giratina, in one of Her more generous moments, had told me.

I was on my way to talk to Arceus one day when I ran into a Pokemon in just such a predicament: a Raichu, his lightningbolt-esque tail jammed between two metaphorical rocks as an extremely powerful living being held him back. And the way to Heaven was so close, too...

I floated up behind the electrical rodent, giggling quietly to myself as I watched it struggle. Not that I enjoy pain--quite the opposite! I was simply overcome by the humor of the situation as the mouse floated helplessly at the end of his tail, drawn on by the proximity of Heaven's gates. He--for it was a male-- wrenched side-to-side, yelping every time his tail failed to uncatch.

I floated around in front of him. "Do you need help, little one?"

The instant he heard my voice, the Raichu stopped struggling and stared at me. There was silence for a moment, and then he gasped "Progenitor!"

Progenitor... Ah,yes, my title. That, and Mischief-Maker. I was the source, the beginning, of all of the world's Pokemon; and I had a knack for causing trouble just for the heck of it.

Hey, don't look at me like that. _I _think it's funny.

I floated up to look past the Raichu's ears. "Your tail is stuck."

He blinked at me, obviously surprised at my apparent shallowness. "Er, yes... I know."

"So who's holding onto you?" I asked suddenly, floating back down to the mouse Pokemon's eye level.

"Uh?" He looked back at me blankly for a moment, then seemed to get it.

"...Probably another one of my human's Pokemon. My, uh, adoptive little sister. She's a Ninetales."

A Ninetales? I stared intently at the Raichu. "Diego? ... Is that you?"

He blinked. "You... know me?"

Knew him, yes. I'd even talked to him. Back when he was a Pikachu, he had gotten into a fierce battle in the middle of a thunderstorm, and had gotten struck by a lightning bolt so powerful it killed him. How ironic, don't you think? And funny. An electric-type killed by electricity. But when I'd spoken to him in the instant before he passed on, he'd stubbornly refused to die, and claimed that his Trainer "still needed him."

I am the Progenitor: I am the source of all Pokemon. I am, in my own eyes, a kind of "mother figure," and this became apparent to me in that moment as, in defiance of my notoriously mischievous and humorous nature, I became totally serious and entranced by the determination of one small, overall-insignificant rodent; and even though it was outside my jurisdiction, right then and there I gave him his life back.

His "little sister" I'd met a little before that, as, along with Arceus, I went in dream form to the little Vulpix (as she had been at the time) and told her what to do to free her "elder brother" Diego from the insanity that had claimed him after his evolution. She was amazingly perceptive for her age, and exceedingly humble. Even though her human preferred his nickname, Ren, the Vulpix had--and probably still does--referred to him by his full name plus an unnecessary honorific, "Raymond-sama."

It made me giggle.

Of course, it had been fifteen years since then. Just about as long as Pikachu and Raichu are expected to live. So now... He must have just died from old age, though of course he didn't look all that old or feeble here. No one did.

"Do you want help?" I asked again, more seriously this time.

Diego struggled ineffectively one more time, and then nodded helplessly. I grabbed his forepaws in my own and _tugged...!_

Diego cried out in pain, but with a wrench his tail pulled free and he and I tumbled head-over-tail away from the anchoring life-rocks and into Heaven's gate.

He ended up sprawled on top of me, grimacing. I slid out from under him and he got back to his rear paws. The marble halls of Heaven's entryway were totally empty except for us, which I found odd. I shrugged, turned back to Diego, and gave him a smile of encouragement. Then I started to float away.

"Um... Progenitor!" he called after me. I stopped and looked back at him, cocking my head curiously.

He caught up with me and then got up into his rear paws, shuffling his front ones in front of him in a manner that reminded me of a human shuffling his thumbs.

"Um..."

"Hey, hey," I cut across him quickly. "No more of the 'Progenitor' stuff, hey? It wears on me. Call me Mew."

"Er..." He was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of calling one of his Gods (Goddess, thanks) by Her given name, but overcame it quickly. "Alright, uh, Mew. I... I don't want to just go into Heaven."

"What d'you mean?" I replied.

"Well, I... I'm not comfortable with having nothing to do," he admitted. "Spending an eternity in paradise is tempting, but it'll get boring."

I blinked and giggled at him. He was funny! But he maintained a solid, serious look that reminded me of his determination to live.

He was _serious_?

"What're you suggesting?" I asked.

"Well, do you need... Er... I mean to say, Progen--Mew--that..." He trailed off, embarrassed.

"What?" I asked gently, landing gently on the ground and putting a forepaw on one of the Raichu's static pouches.

"Do you need a... I don't know... an assistant, or something?" he said finally.

I cocked my head, intrigued. I had never considered the idea of having an assistant. It hadn't ever been done, to my knowledge, but Arceus had never actually issued an edict against it. Now that I thought about it, why _would _I need one? It wasn't as if my job was administrative.

But my motherly nature was kicking in again. I never ignored a child who really wanted something.

"I'm sure I can find something for you to do."

* * *

...There you are. First story, first chapter... Or, really, prologue. And I won't be able to update until _at least _Saturday, so... Sorry.

Review, please... Constructive criticism is an aspiring author's best friend, eh? Well, aside from spell check...


	2. 1 Tantrums of a Hyperactive Cat

A/N: Pokémon and all related official persons/objects/ideas does not belong to me in the least. However, any original persons/objects/ideas within the story that don't belong to anyone else belong to me. Yeah.

As A final note, I use the following formatting system:

"Double quotes" for any human text OR Pokemon text in cases where spoken language is irrelevant / There are no humans around to, as it were, "fail to understand them."

'_Single quotes in italics_' denotes translated Pokemon speech when spoken language DOES matter.

_Italics_ denote thoughts and telepathic quotations.

+Plus signs+ signify the narrator of the segment/chapter.

Now we begin.

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Tantrums of a Hyperactive Cat**

+Diego+

Deities are surprisingly like humans. I suppose the first thing that surprised me about working under Mew--and all the other Legendary Pokémon, depending on necessity--was how surprisingly like living with my Trainer it was.

For one thing, they--or, perhaps I should properly say They--live in the physical world. Well, except for Arceus and Giratina, as They make Their homes in Their respective otherworldly domains. But the Others...

Well, take Mew for example. To most humans, and, indeed, in Pokémon mythology itself, she (I leave it uncapitalized because capitalizing her pronouns irritates her) lives in a giant tree in a place the humans call Camaronne, and technically her home _is _there; but in reality she lives in a house that one can only get to if one knows exactly where to look. A house, yes--a human house, wood and stone, electricity and all. She even has a television, though I've never seen her watch it.

She also seems to be strangely fond of coffee. Why, I can't imagine--I've never much liked the stuff, myself.

So, I'd imagine you're also curious as to what I've actually done since accepting this "assistant" job. Like I said before, I didn't just work for Mew--I worked for all of the Legendary Pokémon as They needed assistance. Therefore, I did various things depending on Who I was helping at the time. Most often, of course, I would be with Mew, which consisted mostly of visiting young children and Pokémon in their dreams and inspiring them to do mischeivous things, making notes (as Mew dictated, which bored her to death) on ideas for new pranks, _pulling _said pranks (often on the other Legendaries, which has landed Mew in trouble a few times), saving the Tree of Origin with help from a Lucario and some kid named Red (...I'll admit, I had no direct influence in that one, but since it involved Mew being sick I at least hovered, invisible and intangible, over the Lucario's shoulder the whole time), and making coffee.

I also did gardening for Shaymin on the side, among other things.

It didn't suit me as well as I might have wanted it to, since Mew was usually hyperactive and cheerful, and I was usually calm and quiet. But it was more interesting than the alternative, to me.

I say _usually,_ since there are times Mew seems to just run out of steam and does nothing that day, and I end up doing work for another Deity.

That was how I found her this morning, actually, slumped over the dining room table staring intently at her coffee mug, which sat a few inches in front of her nose and read _Don't Talk to Me Until This is Empty!_

I padded around her chair and jumped into the one to her left, facing the kitchen door. The table was square, made of finished wood, and grew straight out of the floor (courtesy of Celebi). The chairs were the same way, exept that they could move if you told them too. Behind Mew there were cabinets filled with ornate china, and behind me was the door to the living room, with the counter, fridge, and sink to the side of that. The other wall was mostly bare except for the window, which showed nothing but pure whiteness, and signified that the house was in fact stationed somewhere between the physical world and the not-so-physical world.

I was about to ask Mew if she was feeling alright, but she spoke first.

"Deities."

"...Er... Come again?"

"Deities," she repeated in a flat voice, her eyes closed. "Such a powerful word, don't you think?"

"Er..." I said again.

"It implies grace and majesty, talks of the halls where Gods and Goddesses gather and discuss the fate of the world, of infinite power and infinite knowledge..."

"Are you feeling alright, Mew?" I cut across her.

"I'm tired." She opened her eyes and stared at the coffee cup, which glowed, levitated towards her muzzle, and tipped slightly. She took a sip, and the mug returned to its previous position. "Coffee?"

"No, thank you."

"I mean, _I'm _a deity, right!?" she continued suddenly, jerking her head towards me and staring at me intensely.

"Y-yes," I stammered, frightened by her suddenness.

"Which means I've got lots of power, lots of knowledge... I'm pretty powerful, right!?"

"Yes, y-you are."

"If I'm so powerful, why am I so tired? I'm the Goddess of hyperactivity, for Arceus' sake!" The coffee mug was swept off of the table with an invisible hand and shattered against the opposite wall, coffee spilling everywhere. I flinched at the noise.

"Y-you're--!" I began, but had to duck off of my chair as Mew picked it up mentally and chucked it against the windowed wall.

"I'm _happy! _I'm _cheerful! _Everything I do is in good spirits, yes, that's Mew, alright!" she shouted, her eyes wide open and glowing blue. "I've got _lots _of energy, and I _like _my job! I've been doing it for thousands of years, after all, and that's dedication by anyone's standards, right!? _Right!?_"

"Right!" I shouted back helplessly as the china spilled out of the cabinet behind Mew, shattering into a thousand pieces on the floor.

"Why are you upset!?" I shouted as Mew floated, irate, around the room.

"Why? _Why!? _Because no one, once, has asked Mew to do anything beyond _'Oh, tell me a joke, Mew!' _or '_Hey, do something funny!_' I'm nothing but an entertainer for the Gods, a jester! Not to mention that I have to deal with _young children _on a _daily basis _and that can get irritating after five thousand years, let Mew tell you!"

She ripped the Starly clock (merely a decorative object, as Mew never bothered to set it) off of the wall and chucked it at me. I leapt out of the way with a quick "Hey!"

"I _like _kids. And I _like _my job. But no one cares. No one ever says 'Thanks!' No one even ever asks how I'm doing!"

"...I do," I reprimanded her quietly.

She paused in the middle of picking up the one chair still standing, and set it back down. Then she dropped down into it, her tail hanging underneath the table and swaying a little bit in front of me. I brought up the end of my own tail and touched hers just slightly.

There was a thud as Mew's forehead hit the table above me. I winced.

She moaned slightly. Looking around for an unbroken chair, I found one and righted it after a few moments, and then leapt onto the table.

"Ght offth' tbbl," muttered Mew through the wood of the table.

Every mother has rules.

I leapt down onto the chair again and placed my front paws on the wooden surface. "Are you feeling better, Mew?"

"No." She lifted her face off of the table and hummed absently. There was an abrupt wrenching and everything was suddenly as it had been before Mew had thrown everything about. "Well," she amended. "I don't feel like throwing things about any more, at least. But I'm still tired. I need a break."

"A break?"

"Sure... Every other Deity's had the chance to sleep for awhile, but that goes against my nature, you know?" The restored coffee cup floated over to the sink and drained the undrunk coffee. Apparently Mew didn't want it anymore. "Besides, I can't rest as long as I have a purpose in what I do--I put fun into the world, I make children happy..." She glanced in my direction. "I comfort the dead."

_And the dead are always dying, _I thought glumly.

"Omnipresence gets to you after awhile. I'm surprised I lasted as long as I did..."

Mew floated up out of her chair and shook herself off. "But that's not really important, I suppose, since I _can't _take a break..."

"Who said you couldn't?"

I jumped at the sound of the new, deeper voice, my tail jerking straight up. Mew twisted around in the air to look past me. I turned around and, as I'd expected, saw Arceus standing in the doorway.

I was planning on greeting him, but Mew seemed to forget I was there and responded in a flat voice, "If I remember right, you did."

Arceus feigned surprise. "I did?"

I looked back at Mew, who was glaring daggers at the Creation Pokémon. Then she sighed. "Well, you didn't say it outright, but... Never have I been given an opportunity, in five thousand years, to take a break."

Arceus looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, erm... I must admit... I thought you _liked _your job so much that..."

"That I'd never need one?" Mew started to look angry again; I swallowed and crawled under the table again.

"Five thousand years is a good stretch," Arceus continued hastily. "Er... A new record, isn't it?"

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Mew spat finally. "Need a good _joke?_"

"No, actually," said Arceus, sounding more confident. "I was more concerned about the Starly clock." When Mew simply stared at Him blankly, he continued. "Let's just say I noticed your...um... tantrum this morning, and came to say that you're absolutely right. You do love your job, and you do it well."

"...Poor attempt at a pep talk," Mew muttered irritably.

"Today's not just a good day for you, is it, dear feline?" chuckled Arceus. "I would have thought you'd be at least a little happier after your coffee. But my point is that you _can _take a break, if you really think you need one. After all, you have a substitute who seems to enjoy this line of work."

"What?" said Mew. "What did you just say?"

"I said you _do _have a suitable substitute--"

"No, no, before that!"

"Er... That... you can take a break," Arceus enunciated carefully.

"I can!?" What was left of Mew's bad temper vanished in an instant and she began rocketing around the room, cheering. After a moment, still doing laps about the level of the curtain rod, she asked, "But who's my substitute?"

"Uh... Yeah, who?" I asked, poking my nose out from under the table. Arceus looked at me and His eyes glowed gold. There was a wrenching feeling and I was suddenly floating in front of His face.

"You."

"Oh, uh... What?" I asked, dazed.

"Yes, yes!" shouted Mew. "You'll do wonderfully."

The reality of what this seemed to mean began to sink in. "M-me? Take Mew's place? B-but--"

"Only for a little while, Diego," said Mew, floating down to my level. "You will do it, won't you, buddy?"

She _had _saved me from a boring eternity, at least. And she'd been taking care of me (or at least keeping me with her) for the past few years. Besides, when it all came down to it, she _was _a goddess.

Despite the nagging feeling that I was getting into something I did not really want, I responded, "Yeah, alright... Uh... For a little while."

Arceus smiled.

There was a bright flash, another wrenching feeling, and then everything _changed._

* * *

A cliffhanger, this early in the story... Well, I figured this was a pretty good stopping point, anyway.

Reviews are nice. Constructive criticism. But please... No flames.

Until next time...


	3. 2: A Change in Perspective

How did things change? We'll find out.

Formatting:  
"Double Quotes" for any human speech or Pokémon speech in the metaphysical world;  
'_Single Italicized Quotes_' for any Pokémon speech in the real world (which gets its first, if limited use, in this chapter);  
_Italics _for thoughts or telepathic speech;  
and +Plus signs+ to signify the narrator of the following segment

As a disclaimer, I do not own Pokémon or any related objects/ideas. Only the original characters and the personalities of copyrighted characters are mine. So I'd rather you didn't sue.

Chapter 2:

**

* * *

Chapter 2 - A Change in Perspective**

+Diego+

The first thing that changed was that my head had suddenly been dunked in lava. Everything else around me faded to a dull gray as I dropped to the floor and curled up, pawing at my head.

"Owwww..."

But somehow... Everything felt clearer, sharper. Suddenly I felt great, as if I had limitless energy at my command. I'd never felt better... Except for the headache.

"The first few seconds of omniscience are always the hardest," echoed Arceus' voice from what sounded like a hundred miles off. From a rather closer distance I heard Mew begin to giggle somewhat reluctantly.

"Not funny," I bit out. Mew continued to giggle.

Funny? She thought it was _funny?_ Ignoring my screaming headache and finally seeing farther than two inches ahead of myself, I shot to all fours and glared at the pink feline and growled. There was a great _whoosh!_ and the space around me rippled. Mew was flung backwards and landed hard against the opposite wall. She gasped on the impact as if winded, but then collapsed to the floor in a laughing fit.

"What's so funny!?"

"Hahahahah..." Mew took a deep breath and tried to straighten her face, but sank back into laughter. "Hahahahah!"

_You! _she said, speaking directly into my mind. _I... I don't know what makes it so funny, but when you dropped to the floor..._

"It hurt!"

_It was _funny, _the way you were pawing away at your head._ Mew was still laughing. Part of it, I realized later, may have simply been relief of stress. _And then you picked me up and threw me, all angry and grouchy..._ Her thoughts degenerated into laughter, and, sighing, I turned away, back to Arceus.

"Remind me not to get you angry," He said, sounding amused.

"Did I do that?" I asked suddenly, turning back toward Mew.

"You're a god now," said Arceus. "And Mew is not. No matter how strong her powers are as a regular Pokémon--and they are formidable, I can assure you--she cannot stand up to you now. Not that she would want to."

"Wheee!" said Mew, rocketing into the air, around Arceus, and out the door. I stared after her blankly.

"One question, Sir," I began, looking up at Arceus.

"Go ahead. Oh, two things--first, you can stop capitalizing my pronouns because we're on equal terms, and second, you don't have to sit on the floor all the time. You _can _float, you know."

"...Uh?" But the moment I thought about being up on eye level with Arceus, I rose up into the air and was able to glance straight into the Creator Pokémon's golden eyes. "Right. This whole god thing's going to take a bit of getting used to..."

"Your question?" asked Arceus, still sounding rather amused.

"Why did you say I liked this, uh, line of work? Certainly I don't have anything against it, but--"

"So you like it." Arceus smiled. "Even if you don't, you'll grow into it eventually."

I cocked my head curiously.

"You're omniscient, you know," said Arceus. "You figure it out." With that, the Creator Pokémon turned and phased through the wall, and I was alone.

+Mew+

_'Wheee!'_ The Tree of Origin shrank behind me as I flew out into the physical world, Camaronne spreading out below me and then left behind in my haste. It felt so _good _to just be outside for the heck of it!

Of course, there were downsides--I was straining myself flying this fast, and I could feel it. As a normal Pokémon I did not have limitless power. I slowed down slightly, and, seeing another city far below, decided to visit.

I relaxed my mind and dropped like a rock. Five thousand years is a long time to be totally impervious to harm. It was only when I was nearing the tops of the taller buildings that I remembered that I'd have to catch myself. As Arceus had said, my mental capacity was nothing to sneeze at, but when you haven't relied on your actual psychic powers for a few thousand years it can be hard to catch yourself in time.

'_Whoa!'_

There was a convenient allyway in front of me and I managed to steer myself in, and then I ineptly dropped to the ground and smashed headfirst into a trash can. The last thing that crossed my mind was _I need to work on my technique..._

* * *

Leave it to Mew to get into trouble... What'll happen? You'll find out soon, I'm sure...

Rate/Review. Please. Otherwise I feel like no one cares.


	4. 3: In the Beginning

A/N: This is more of an explanatory chapter than anything, but the knowledge will likely prove useful in later chapters.

Pokémon, Celebi, and all related official material are copyright to the companies that own them. However, any original characters and the personalities I have imposed onto existing characters do belong to me.

Same formatting rules as always.

**

* * *

Chapter 3 - In the Beginning**

+Diego+

"So... Now what?"

I was still sitting in Mew's abode, paws resting on top of the table and staring down into the reflective wooden depths.

I honestly didn't know what to do--Mew had seemed so comfortable in her job and had apparently done whatever she felt like doing. But apparently she'd been doing that job for several thousand years and was in somewhat of a routine. Mew had left no instructions--indeed, the whole thing was rather sudden--and Arceus had enigmatically left me to figure it out for myself. I could think of several things Mew _had _done, but looking back on it I could determine no pattern.

...This omniscient thing wasn't proving nearly as helpful as I'd imagined it would have been.

"Hey, Mew, I-- Oh!" Celebi's head poked around the half open door and spotted me. "Hey, Diego. Where's Mew?"

"Er..."

"Wait... You're glowing." Celebi floated fully into the house and stared at me. "Why are you glowing?"

"I'm glowing?" I looked down at myself as best I could, and then glanced at my tail to make sure. I saw no glow. However, looking back at Celebi I noticed for the first time a pale green glow around her. "Oh. Right, uh..."

I explained the situation to her as best I could. I still felt rather dazed myself, and felt that what explanation I was able to give was less than helpful, but Celebi seemed to understand.

"Right," she said finally. "It's true. Mew's never taken a vacation before. Or, not this Mew, I guess."

I stared at her. "_This _Mew?"

The Forest Guardian blinked, seeming confused. "You don't know?"

"Arceus promised omniscience, but it's not answering nearly as many questions as I'd like... As paradoxical as that sounds."

Celebi nodded. "Well, it does take awhile to get into." She landed softly on another chair, which instantly began sprouting leaves and branches.

"...So what did you mean?"

"Huh? Oh, right... Well... Aren't you curious as to why you, a Raichu, were able to take on the full role of the Progenitor without actually _being _a Mew, as the Progenitor is supposed to be?"

"That's another question--What exactly am I supposed to do? And aren't I supposed to be doing something, like, right now to prevent the world from falling into chaos?"

"What do you want answered first?" Celebi responded, sounding somewhat exasperated.

I fell silent, looking sheepishly at the Forest Guardian.

She sighed. "I understand how you feel, Diego. Believe me, I do. I was in your position once."

"Huh?"

"Maybe not exactly, but..." Celebi looked away for a moment, apparently thinking. "What's the best way to explain this? We work in what are called Offices. Like, for example, the Celebi that initially held this Office handed it off to another. And another. That's why you were able to assume Mew's job."

"But I'm not a Mew."

"Ah--Not wholly. But when it comes down to it you are _part _Mew--and so is nearly every other Pokémon on the planet. How about a history lesson, just to make sure you know everything right off?"

"Uh... Sure."

"Well, you know the basic foundation of Pokémon mythology, yes?"

I nodded.

"In the beginning Arceus created the world and everything in it, and he created the first Pokémon."

"A Mew."

"More than one, but yes, Mew were the first Pokémon. Now, originally the Mew knew all about Arceus, 'cause he used to actually walk around on the planet with them. They worshipped him, and they enjoyed doing it because to them there wasn't an alternative. Arceus was there, Arceus was the one who'd made them--it was pretty obvious.

"Now eventually, Arceus got tired of this. You know, he's got legendary patience, if you'll pardon the joke, but even he has his limits." Celebi smiled, apparently at her own joke, and I grinned slightly as well. "Just to see what would happen, he stopped visiting the Mew. This had several effects, and some of them even Arceus did not fully predict. One, once away from the life-giving power of the Creator Pokémon, the Mew became mortal, though they had extremely expanded lifespans--upwards of five hundred years, to begin with. And two, as they bred, they began to change... The process took several millions of years, but eventually the Mew became nearly extinct as they evolved into nearly all of the Pokémon species that exist today."

"Third, as the new generations of Pokémon had never known the Creator, they soon forgot about him and created several entities to explain some of the phenomena in their world. From this spawned the basics of the Pokémon pantheon--and Arceus, though he was initially angry at the Pokémon who had forgotten him, he noticed the advantages of having partners. So he created nearly all the entities that the Pokémon envisioned as gods and gave them their duties and, as it were, retired to the sidelines.

"There was one deity that he didn't create from scratch, however, and that was..."

"Mew?"

"Mew," Celebi said, nodding. "But even then, Mew were rare creatures, and had passed into legend. The Pokémon of that day had forgotten their ancestors and regarded the pink feline Pokémon as more of a nuisance than anything, because the Mew were renowned troublemakers. They were so rare, however, that no one was ever sure they existed. So they became legend, and in time that legend turned Mew into a god of mischief."

"A god?" I noticed her phrasing. "That's male."

"Indeed it is," said Celebi. "And Mew was nothing more than a troublemaker for several thousand years after that. And then..."

Celebi looked out the window into the white void that was between-space. "And then the humans came."

"Came? What do you mean, _came_? Didn't Arceus create them, too?"

"Ah... It appears that particular detail has passed out of modern mythology. No, Arceus didn't create humans--Humans came from another world, a far away place, where there were no Pokémon. They were fleeing their own world, torn apart by petty wars and weapons that could leave deep, infected scars in the planet that killed anything living, even the plants." Celebi looked momentarily distressed, but relaxed, and continued, "But the ones who came here were peaceful ones who had left in the wake of one final war and had traveled the void of cold space between galaxies for thousands of years, using strange powers to keep themselves asleep and to avoid the ravage of time.

"When they landed, Arceus was angry at them..."

"Wait--We're going off on a tangent."

Celebi glared at me for interrupting. "This isn't a tangent, as much as it sounds like one. This is important. Arceus was angry at them for coming and spoiling the world he'd made, and he sent down some of the lesser deities, Mew included. But there was something strange about the humans, in that they already knew about Pokémon. They knew names, abilities, even the fact that Mew was the First Pokémon."

I stared at Celebi in shock. "What? How would they know that!?"

"It seemed that fate had played a cruel trick, letting the humans come to our world. We--Pokémon--had existed on their world as an idea, created by their imagination. And what should they find when they leave their own world, but a world that they themselves had imagined?

"Arceus wouldn't hear of it, and he was initially tempted to destroy them all and wipe their coming from the minds of all Pokémon. But Mew had grown fond of the humans, and so had some of the other legendary Pokémon, and they talked Arceus out of it. However, he wasn't going to leave them alone--He wiped from them all of the memories of their previous world, and made them believe that they had always existed on this world. But one thing that had resulted from the humans' coming he did not eliminate--the knowledge of Mew as the first Pokémon. This fell into legend, as such things are wont to do, and compounded the idea of Mew being mischievous. Mew was now also the Progenitor--the ancestor of all Pokémon. Mew didn't feel comfortable in this new job, because he'd been created as only the Mischief-Maker. So he stopped doing his job and faded out of existence.

"This perplexed Arceus, but he understood what had caused Mew to grow tired of his job. So he took a Mew from the world, a female, and a mother, and she became the Progenitor and the Mischief-Maker, and the idea of Offices was born. Soon all of the original Pokémon gods except for Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia had faded out and replacements found."

"But I thought you said the rest of the deities' species didn't exist in the real world?"

"They didn't, originally, but because each deity served a purpose and had a native setting Arceus took the purest essence of what that entity represented and created the Pokémon species himself. Only the legendary breeds are not created from Mew, and _that, _Diego, is why you would never have been able to fill in for anyone else but Mew."

My head was buzzing: I'd never heard such a long story. But it all made sense, in some odd way.

"What about the job I'm supposed to be doing?"

Celebi floated up into the air. "Oh, little mouse, don't you think Arceus thought ahead? There are forces that do your job for you when you're not actively doing them yourself. Even if you _are _omniscient, you _aren't _omnipresent." She smiled. "But don't worry--eventually you'll have to do something, or the world _will _fall into chaos as the natural forces that compose it cease to operate."

"But what do I _do?_"

"Do what you feel like doing, Diego. You're the Progenitor, after all, even if you're just filling in. Follow your instincts. They can't be too far off."

Still smiling, Celebi floated back out through the door. I was alone again, but now I wasn't nearly so confused. I headed out the door too, heading for a very specific place, and knowing exactly what I had to do.

* * *

And don't worry, we'll find out exactly what happened to Mew next chapter.

Reviews are helpful.


	5. 4: Polar Opposites

A/N: So, what happened to Mew? Time to find out...

Oh, and I still don't own anything.

**Chapter 4 - Polar Opposites**

+Mew+

I moaned, trying to move my paws up to rub my aching head but losing track of where they were along the way.

_Maybe I shouldn't have laughed at Diego..._

'_Huh?_' There was a gasp off to my left--or was it my right? _I must have hit that trash can pretty hard..._ '_Hey, Poz, I think she's waking up!_'

'_Really? Hold on, Nega, I'll be there in a sec!_'

Still too lucid to open my eyelids I instead reached out with my mind. The Pokémon who had just spoken was Nega, a female... Minun?

'_Who came up with _your _nickname?_' I groaned sarcastically, still trying to reach my head.

'_My Trainer,_' came Nega's voice in somewhat of a huff, in what I was now able to officially determine as off to my right. I also realized I was laying on my back, and that there was a cold rag on my head. It felt rather good. '_Let's see if you've got anything better, pinky._'

'_Oh hey, now, that hurts!_' I said in a mock hurt voice, opening my eyes. '_It just so happens I like pink, _but...!' I concentrated on changing my color. Nothing happened.

Oh yeah. I wasn't a deity any more. My form was fixed. Well... Maybe not my form, but my color was.

'_But?_' said Nega arrogantly.

'_Uh... Nothing,_' I replied somewhat lamely. The Plusle, Poz, came into my field of vision and for the first time I tried to get a good look at where I was.

I was still in the city, I could tell by the concentration of vague minds all around me. But the area in which I found myself was dark and had a rather musty, unused smell. It was dark, but my eyes were designed for night vision and I noticed that I was surrounded--and laying on top off, as well--unfinished wood, except for the wall off to my left which was plaster.

'_Where _am _I?_'

'_The attic of an old office building,_' said Poz matter-of-factly. Listening to her voice, I found she was also a female.

'_Why?_' I asked bluntly. '_I mean, maybe I'm a rare species, but..._'

'_Rare or not,_' said Poz, rearranging the rag, '_we're not about to leave an injured Pokémon out in the alleyways of Pewter City._'

'_Question,_' I stated.

'_What?_' said Nega.

'_Er... Why are _you_ in an unused office building taking care of _me _when your Trainer is probably looking for you?_' Nega had already implied the Trainer aspect, and I had picked up on a slight worry to this effect from Poz. '_I'm fine, anyway. I heal quick._' So saying I tried to lift myself into the air only to be met with a splitting headache. I cried out in pain and sank back to the floor. Or... was it the cieling, since we were in an attic?

'_That's why,_' said Poz. '_Besides, our Trainer's staying in this city for awhile and he lets us pretty much roam around._'

The two conflicting parts of me took this different ways. My mischievous side thought up numerous ways to have fun away from human supervision, which it did regularly anyway; my motherly side wanted to scold their Trainer for being so incredibly lax.

'And,' said Nega, '_we're street smart, see? Born and raised wild in Mauville City. That's in the... uh... the Hone Region!'_' I corrected automatically.

'Hoenn,

'_What are you, anyway?_' said Nega, brushing that off.

'_What?_' That had to be a joke. '_I'm the Pr--Uh, I'm a Mew._' Though I knew revealing my exact identity would cause an amusing stir, I did not want to bring attention to myself if I couldn't effectively use my powers to either eventually fix it or get out of there.

What luck. I _had _to land just so. Now I couldn't use my psychic powers for anything beyond basic telepathy.

'_A Mew?_' asked Nega, bringing a paw up to her chin. Adorable! But I wasn't too fond of her arrogant personality. '_What's that?_'

'_Yeah... My mom mentioned Mews once or twice,_' said Poz thoughtfully. '_Some kind of story. But I wasn't paying attention._' Surprisingly this did not come with the indifferent tone that such words usually carried; Poz sounded almost sorry about not listening to her mother. What a mismatched pair, these two...

'_Hey, Poz, it's getting close to sundown!_' I hadn't consciously noticed Nega slipping out of the room, but from the sound of her voice she had. '_I think we leave tomorrow, don't we?_'

'_But what about Mew?_' asked Poz. '_I can tell just by looking at you you're not built for walking on the ground, and I don't think Nega and I could carry you all the way._'

'_That'd be bad,_' I cautioned her. '_I'm... a really rare Pokémon._' I was also still a goddess, in my mind, and to be captured and used as a normal Pokémon didn't strike me as something I really wanted.

'_But we can't just leave you here._'

'_I'll be fine! I said I heal fast._'

'_Mmm..._' Poz didn't sound convinced, and the way she stared at me agreed with that.

'_Then again..._' I blinked and tilted my head away from Poz. '_There's something I can do... I don't know if I can pull it off, with my head acting up the way it is..._'

'_What?_'

'_Well..._' Hoping fervently doing so wouldn't drive a spike into my skull again, I focused on changing my shape into... What would go well with a Plusle and Minun? My mind first settled on Pichu, but those were boring and were quite common in Pewter City's vicinity anyway. I changed my mind and focused on something less common.

'_Wow!_' said Poz after a moment. '_Hey Nega! Come quick!_'

The Minun rushed in from the left side and stopped dead. '_Where's Mew!?'_

I stood up, somewhat uneasily, on my rear paws, twitched my tail, and turned toward the shocked Nega. '_Hi!_'

Nega blinked. '_But you're a... What _are _you?_'

'_She's a Pachirisu, Nega,_' said Poz, sounding rather excited. '_Well, she _looks _like a Pachirisu, I think she's still a Mew, but..._' There was wonder in her voice; apparently she had never even run into a Ditto.

Nega stared, uncomprehending.

'_I can transform,_' I explained finally. '_My species can turn into nearly any Pokémon species in existance._'

I couldn't help but feel a little satisfied at the surprise in Nega's mind; her personality so far had come off as brash and arrogant.

I was grateful for the role the great, fluffy tail held in keeping a Pachirisu balanced, because I was having trouble with it myself. My head was aching dully, which I found strange; it hadn't hurt before I transformed, and any transformations a Mew used were semipermanent: I could change back if I wanted to, but my body had naturally assumed this shape; I wasn't consuming any psychic power at all.

...So why did my head still hurt?

I tried to step forward, but only managed a slight lurch. Nega did not attempt to catch me, but Poz grabbed onto my tail and prevented me from faceplanting completely.

'_Are you okay, Mew?_' she asked.

'_Fine... I've just got a bit of a headache._'

'_How about we _go_, huh?_' said Nega impatiently. '_May's probably worried about us._'

'Right. Let's go, Mew,

' said Poz, walking around and helping me back to my rear paws. _'But... You're not really a Mew anymore, are you?_'

I shook my head in attempt to clear it, and the headache vanished. I shrugged mentally. _'Not right now... How about, um, Fluffy?_' It was the only thing that came to mind. I loved Pachirisu for their tails--so fluffy and huggable.

'_I hope that's not your normal nickname,_' scoffed Nega.

'_Give it a rest,_' said Poz. '_Think you can walk, um, Fluffy?_'

'_Slowly._' I shook my head sharply again. I did not like feeling so helpless... But these two had looked out for me for however long I'd been out cold, and obviously I couldn't use my psychic powers to leave. I gestured at Nega to go. '_Lead the way._'

Who knows?

I thought.

_Maybe somehow this'll all work out._

So that's what happened to Mew. I don't know, this chapter was difficult for me to write, which is why it's been so long... Maybe it'll become easier as I go.

* * *


	6. 5: That Which is Lost

A/N: I'm sorry that the last chapter took so long to get up, and that it was in rather bad condition when I finally _did _get it up. It was a combination of being rushed and still slightly uncomfortable with the way this site organizes documents. I've fixed it, added a missing disclaimer, and tried to explain why the last chapter took so long...

But if you don't want to read that, it's simply because it took me so long to write. Celebi's narrative of the origin of Pokémon was easy to write and I managed it in one sitting; but Mew's first solo chapter was difficult for me and, as you probably noticed, took me a long time to do. That was, more than anything, due to the fact that I'm uncomfortable writing the kind of character Mew is (hence her toned-down sense of humor). Hopefully I'll get better as I go along, and such a long hiatus won't be necessary again.

Also, one other thing. If for whatever reason either main character (Diego or Mew) is temporarily unable to narrate, then I'll switch to a limited third-person perspective from the POV (more or less) of a lesser character who can. This will be denoted by +Third+ , or, if said third-person character is already known/has already "narrated," then it'll be +(Character Name)+.

Now, if you'll pardon my rambling, we'll get back to the story. And I still don't own Pokémon, which is terribly unfortunate.

* * *

**Chapter 5 - That Which is Lost...**

+Diego+

I was nearly to my destination when something stopped me in my ghostly tracks.

_--five years now... I still remember the day, and I still come out here..._

The 'sound' of the thought was extremely familiar, and the sound of my old Trainer's voice made me tear up slightly. I knew, at that moment, exactly where I was, and not because of the amazing sense of direction I'd acquired since taking Mew's job.

Ilex Forest stretched out below and behind me, a grand sea of green leaves, tinted almost orange in the sunset, that rustled as wind passed by. Azalea Town sprawled out almost directly in front of me, and I found the new, airborne viewpoint fascinating. But I was almost entirely focused on my soft-spoken Trainer's mental 'voice' as it floated up from underneath me.

_I'm doing fine... Karen's seven now, do you believe it? And just recently she's gotten over her fear of Pokémon..._

"Ren!"

Without another thought I shot straight down.

I leveled out in a clearing perhaps an eighth of a mile into Ilex Forest. There was a strange hush here, lacking all the normal sounds of the forest; the only sound one could hear was the voice of Raymond "Ren" Ashlocke, now nearly thirty years old and the resident Pokémon Breeder, as he spoke over the grave of his deceased Raichu.

"Some people think I'm strange, coming out here to talk to an empty clearing... Even Kyra." Kyra was his mate, and, in what may or may not have been a gigantic dose of irony, the Trainer of _my _mate, Lenna, whose grave was located next to mine. "But what can I do? You were my first Pokémon, and my closest friend..."

I began to tear up again. If I had been allowed to materialize and rush into his arms I would have, but, deity or not, Giratina's laws were absolute. I could not assume the same physical form I had when I was alive, unless it was a dire (meaning: world-threatening). As it was, a random Pokémon deciding to comfort him would have been unnerving.

My memories screamed out in protest against the laws and limitations set against me; but the laws were not simply a warning: they were a restriciton. I wouldn't have been able to break them even if I'd consciously decided to do so.

Ren seemed to have run out of things to say. He took a deep breath, said "Talk to you later, bud," and walked out of the clearing westward, passing within an inch of my outstretched metaphysical "paws."

"Ren..."

My earlier idea and destination almost entirely forgotten, for the moment, I floated helplessly after my former Trainer as he worked his way back out of the forest. I kept trying to come up with a way to comfort him, to let him know I was there and still cared about him as much as he did for me; but every time I tried I was pushed back by a combination of pantheon law and some other, rose-lavender force I couldn't identify.

Ren's house was toward the edge of Azalea Town, quickly identifiable somewhat larger than most of the other houses in the town. Most of what was there now I did not recognize, and I figured it must have been added on to give more room for the day care. Said day care was announced by a sign over the front gate, reading _Azalea Pokémon Day Care_ in bright green paint with somewhat crudely done paintings of the faces of a Raichu and Pikachu on either side (a representation of Lenna and I, as we had originally been the mascots). If my attention had not still been focused on my Trainer I would have realized that I was actually able to read it.

Ren walked through the front door and I, forgetting the fact that I'd have been able to pass through it anyway, shot in as well before he shut it. It was only then, faced with the place I'd called home for the better part of my sixteen-year-life, that I broke down and began to cry.

+Third+

The instant Raymond-sama walked through the door all of Myst's senses went on high alert. Something else--something spiritual--had followed him into the house. The Ninetales did not betray this to any of the infant Pokémon to whom she was currently telling a story, except perhaps as a minor pause. It seemed powerful, certainly, but not malevolent.

'_And so the Smoochum and the Prince Growlithe lived happily ever after,_' she finished quietly. Most of the Pichu, who had already heard the story, were already asleep; some of the other baby Pokémon, those belonging to clients, stared at her sleepily and/or murmurred something that Myst couldn't quite make out.

'_G'night, Miss Ninetales,'_ yawned a Totodile, snuggling down to sleep with several of the other babies. Myst nearly smiled back, but her mind was still on the presence that had followed her Trainer into the house. It didn't even seem to have moved since she'd noticed it. Was it being cautious, or was it something else?

She descended the stairs to the first floor and turned toward the door, her tails slightly raised. It was still there... And it was...

...Crying?

There was a _whoosh! _and all of Myst's fur was blown back. She growled, her tails flowing out behind her, but no further attack came. As it was, when she focused, she discovered that the presence had moved from the doormat to directly in front of her. At this proximity she could tell what it was--or, more accurately, Who it was.

'_Progenitor?_' she breathed, but the voice that answered was not Mew's.

_Little sister..._

'_Diego!_' she said, surprised. '_But you--Your presence is just like Mew's..._'

Her adoptive elder brother did not reply. Making sure she was out of the way should Raymond or Kyra decide to traverse the hallway, Myst laid down and closed her eyes, expanding her senses to include the immediate spiritual realm, as Ninetales, the "phantom foxes," were capable of doing.

Diego--for it was he, though if she did not look closely his body was obscured by the illusion of a Mew--stood morosely in front of her, his head down and ears back, long, wirelike tail lashing back and forth.

'_What is wrong?_'

_Nothing..._ said Diego sadly. _I just... miss Ren._

'_He visited your gravesite today. As a matter of fact, he has just returned from there..._'

_I know. That's why I'm here._

'_I can understand that,_' said Myst. '_But why are you _here_? I thought you had...moved on._'

_I had, but... circumstances conspired._ Briefly he told her what he'd been doing the past few years, and of his recent ascension to godhood to fill in for Mew as she took a break. Myst wasn't entirely sure what this meant, as the idea of a goddess requiring a break from anything went agaist everything she thought she knew about gods. She took this in stride, however, and eventually, once Diego had fallen silent, she continued,

'_But why were you coming here in the first place?_'

_What is it that Mew does?_ he responded.

With years of storytelling behind her, Myst instantly responded '_Mew is the Progenitor, mother to all Pokémon; and She is the Mischeif-Maker, who inspires tricks and cleverness throughout the world._' She thought this through. '_Diego... You aren't in any shape to be a mother figure to anyone, if you'll pardon the expression, looking at the way you are now...'_

Diego made the Raichu equivalent of a shrug.

'_...You weren't thinking of making the children play tricks on each other?_'

A grin flitted across Diego's face for a moment. _It _is _my job._

'_It doesn't seem like you..._'

_A lot can change in five years, especially when you're rooming with a hyperactive cat._ Diego looked up and past Myst toward the den. Myst's physical ears picked up the sound of the television. _But I didn't think... I mean, when I got back here, I just..._ He shuddered, which was probably an echo of a reflex from when he was alive.

Myst inched sideways and extended her leftmost tail to the ghost of her elder brother. As he had done in life, he reached out with his own tail, and the two attempted to intertwine, for a measure of comfort. _'I cannot understand your situation perfectly... But I am sure Raymond-sama--_'

_Ren,_ he corrected reflexively.

_'_Raymond-sama,_' _Myst emphasized, '_knows that you still care for him. You were his closest friend. Now all he has are pictures of you, and me, the last, long-lived remnant of a happy Pokémon family. He loves his mate, yes, and he loves his business, but I think there is a big part of him that still loves you._'

Diego's eyes were fixed in the same spot, presumably on whatever he could see of Raymond.

Myst continued, '_But if you really want to let him know, I will tell him for you._'

Diego reached out and 'hugged' whatever part of Myst's neck he could reach from the ground, murmurred _Thanks_, and began to drift away. _I've still got a job to do..._ But he straightened a moment later, his ears righting themselves and his tail becoming erect behind him. _...What? Oh... A meeting. Yes._

There was another, gentler _whoosh,_ and Diego's presence vanished. Myst nodded gravely, then stood up and went to the living room, where she did all she could to fulfill her promise to Diego.

The following morning, Kyra would find her husband asleep on the couch, Myst stretched out beside him, the two giving each other whatever comfort they could.

* * *

That took awhile. I'd originally planned something completely different, but I rewrote it to what you see now. There may eventually be a story on the Day Care itself, but for now I'd like to just work on this...

And Siran, good call. Hah.

More Mew next update. If I can get the chapter written in decent time, that is...Stupid school...

'Till next time.


	7. 6: From Fatigue to Fugitive

A/N: More Mew, as promised.

And she'll be back to her normal mischeivous self after this, I promise.

Note that the May in this story, Poz and Nega's Trainer, is physically identical to the anime/game May but is not the same person (or perhaps more accurately she is the same person filling a different role, as this story doesn't follow either the anime or game timelines explicitly). She is, in fact, Brendan's (the male main character from the gemstone-based Generation III games) daughter, while his rival, in case you were curious, had been Leaf.

Note that bad alliteration is to be found in this chapter, if the title wasn't clue enough. At least, _I _think it's bad...

* * *

**Chapter 6 - From Fatigue to Fugitive**

+Mew+

_My head..._

'_Maybe you walking wasn't such a good idea,_' said Poz, glancing worriedly in my direction for the third time.

'_I'm fine!_' I insisted, my head throbbing. It had gotten worse as we'd walked; I hoped it would not become unbearable.

'_Harsh tone, coming from a Pachirisu named _Fluffy_,' _scoffed Nega. I discharged some electricity in irritation.

'_We're nearly at the Pokémon Center,_' said Poz, ignoring her counterpart. '_See? Just ahead. That's where our Trainer's staying._'

I looked, and saw the whitewashed building with its distinctive red top and the letters _P. C. _embossed to one side of the sliding door. As I looked, the doors slid open and a human girl ran out towards us.

"Poz! Nega! Where have you two been?" she demanded, dropping down to her knees to get closer to the tiny mouselike Pokémon. "...And who's this?" she added suddenly, noticing me. "A Pachirisu?"

'_Hi,_' I said dully, waving one of my forepaws rather sluggishly.

"Is it alright?" asked the girl, sounding worried. I did not try to probe her mind for her name, for fear it would worsen my headache.

'_She hit her head real hard,_' explained Nega, pantomiming running into something headfirst.

"Do you belong to someone?"

I shook my head.

"No? A wild Pachirisu in Pewter City? That's unheard of..." She reached out towards me, and I reflexively backed away. "Hey, I don't want to hurt you... If you hit your head, you should get it looked at."

Poz looked at me curiously, probably wondering why I was afraid of someone she herself trusted. I shook my head.

_If this headache gets any worse I'll have no choice but to revert to my natural form... If any of the humans see me..._

Nega pushed me from behind, and I stumbled into the girl's arms. She picked me up hastily, and though I tried to struggle my head began to throb more intensely and I stopped fighting, whimpering.

"What _did _you do?" the girl said softly, walking back into the Pokémon Center with me in her arms. "You've got a nasty bump on your head..."

It was still there? Dully I remembered that nonlethal injuries did not fade when I transformed.

..._I don't care if they find out what I am,_ I thought, still whimpering slightly as the girl handed me over to the pink-haired woman behind the counter. Vague images of this woman floated to the surface of my mind... Yes, she was the woman Mewtwo had enslaved... _If they can fix this headache..._

+(Poz)+

'_Is she going to be alright?_' asked Poz again as May sat in the Center's waiting room.

"I hope she'll be okay..." said her Trainer, scratching Nega between her ears. The blue Cheer Pokémon sighed happily.

'_Nega,_' said Poz irritably. '_You seem terribly lax about all of this! The way Mew was stumbling before May picked her up... She could be seriously injured._'

'_It's just a bump!_' replied Nega unconcernedly. _'Honestly, you worry too much, Poz. So she hit a trashcan headfirst, so what? That happened regularly back in Mauville._'

'_But..._' Poz growled, frustrated. Nega was beginning to get on her nerves--she'd been acting more and more arrogant ever since the two had discovered Mew unconscious in the alleyway in the first place. '_She could have overexerted herself walking, she... Well, for all you know, she could die!_'

Nega looked down at her counterpart with half-open eyes. Poz was pacing the tiled floor in front of her Trainer in worry. Nega opened her mouth to reply, but before she could the door to the back opened and Nurse Joy stuck her face through. "Could I see the young lady who brought in the Pachirisu, please?"

May set Nega on the seat next to herself and stood up, walking towards the door. Poz followed, but Nega stayed where her Trainer had placed her. May, realizing that one of her Cheer Pokémon was not following her, glanced back at Nega, who shrugged. Huffing slightly, May returned the not-so-cheery Minun to her PokéBall. Poz climbed up onto her Trainer's shoulder, and May walked into the room Nurse Joy had come from.

+Mew+

When I woke up the first thing I realized was that my headache was, indeed, gone. The second was that I was still, somehow, in Pachirisu form.

_I thought I could only maintain transformations while I was conscious..._

Perhaps Arceus was still keeping an eye on me. Knowing him, I was the center of his attention... I decided not to bemoan what had apparently been a miracle or, barring that, an amazing stroke of good luck. I scoffed. Luck. Yeah, right.

I sat up, not feeling a throb in my head at all, and looked around.

Yes... This looked like a Pokémon Center, all right. Whitewashed walls with dark-colored, obscure paintings upon them, and a large window off to one side that allowed Trainers to look in at their Pokémon. I glanced out this window now, and discovered two people watching me. One was the pink-haired proprieter of the previously-stated Pokémon-based establishment, Nurse Joy.

I frowned at my horrid attempt at alliteration.

The other was the girl who had brought me here in the first place... Poz and Nega's Trainer. Tentatively I reached out with my mind and discovered her name, at long last, was May. Poz was resting on her head, but Nega was nowhere to be seen.

_...How uncreative._

Nurse Joy was speaking. I accessed her mind and, by extension, the conversation.

"...all normal physical characteristics of a female Pachirisu, and truth be told I wouldn't have noticed this if I'd been paying attention and turned off the DNA analyzer that we had set up for the Ditto who was just in here."

"Noticed what?" asked May. Poz nodded, curious.

"Well... For the most part this Pokémon's DNA is nearly identical to that of a normal Pachirisu, but there's one thing different... There's another active gene there that is dormant in nearly every Pokémon except Ditto. We call it the 'transformation gene,' and it contains in short a list of genetic 'commands' that can transform other DNA cells."

"So this Pachirisu's actually a _Ditto?_" asked May. I noticed Pachirisu start somewhat nervously on top of May's head.

"Well..." Joy's thoughts were somewhat turbulent. I heard what she was about to say and tensed. "No. There's something different about the transformation gene. It's definitely not a Ditto--and aside from Ditto, there's only one known Pokémon that has the ability to transform into other Pokémon."

May looked dumbfounded. She looked toward me, confused, as did Nurse Joy. From her mind, I heard _There's no point in hiding it any more. If you really are what I think you are, show me._

I paused.

_My headache's gone. I've been using my powers far more extenisely in the last few minutes than I have since I flew into this mess in the first place. I could teleport out of here and leave them none the wiser..._

But I couldn't just leave Poz. She (...and Nega, I added somewhat reluctantly) had taken care of me and gotten me out of a position that would have broken a terrible taboo of Mew culture: _Do not let humans find you._

There was only one thing for it. Sorry, May.

With a pop I reverted to my regular form, then teleported outside the room, grabbing onto May and, by extension, Poz and, I hoped, Nega. There was the psychic _whoosh_ of teleportation, and before Nurse Joy could say "Blisseys blast blithering bloody blades," I, along with May and Poz, had vanished.

En route, I groaned. My alliteration still needed work.

* * *

And now we've got a human involved, too! Like I said, don't worry. Mew will be more or less back in her own element next time and will be more like her tenth-movie counterpart and the Mischeif-Maker I've made her out to be, but failed to deliver as of yet.

Back to Diego next chapter, and finally a look into my view of powerful Pokémon political policies...

...I should stop while I'm ahead. Alliteration is fun but it's easy to tell when it's been made up on the spot... Sorry.

'Till next time.


	8. 7: Politics

I don't own Pokémon or any related copyrights. Nintendo does.

****

Chapter 7 - Politics

+Diego+

"You don't need to be so nervous!" Mesprit chided.

"You act as though you do not know us at all, when in fact I, at least, have known you for four years, seven moths, twenty-seven days, two hours, and ten minutes," stated Uxie matter-of-factly.

"So go, go, go, get in there already!" insisted Azelf.

I sighed and looked around at the Lake Trio again. We were just outside the Hall of Origin, wherein the other Pokémon gods had gathered in for a meeting. I, however, had balked just outside the entryway, and, seeing this, the Pokémon representing Arceus' intrinsic powers (omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence, respectively, in the order they had just spoken) had drifted out the gateway and were now attempting to get me into the meeting.

"...Eleven minutes," stated Uxie, almost as an afterthought.

"You're a god now!" said Azelf.

"I know, but--"

The Willpower Pokémon cut me off again. "So no one can blast you for doing something wrong."

"If I may," said the Uxie crisply, "if anything Mew is _expected _to mess up. Twelve minutes."

"Will you shut up about that!?" snapped Azelf.

"It helps lighten the mood..." said Mesprit dreamily.

I blinked, deciding nearly anything would be better than trying to understand the backpawed manner in which the Lake Trio operated, and pushed my way past them into the Hall of Origin.

Or, perhaps more accurately, I _shot _past the Lake Trio and, because of the strange laws of astral physics, bashed my unsolid head against Arceus' solid hoof.

"Finally!" I heard Shaymin call out shrilly as the Lake Trio glided in after me. "Mew _always _keeps us waiting!"

Most of me wanted to get up and begin apologizing profusely. To my surprise, however, and seemingly against my will, I floated upwards and landed on Arceus' head lazily.

"Off, Progenitor," said Arceus in a weary tone.

This time I did manage to say "Sorry!" and hastily floated to an empty spot in the vaguely-rectangular group of deities. My mind recognized them for me, though at that point I did not particularly care. Arceus was closest to the entryway, facing away from it; on his right was Dialga, and following clockwise (from my perspective) were Groudon, myself, Ho-Oh, Articuno, Raikou, Entei, Manaphy, Heatran, Latias, Darkrai, Giratina, Cresselia, Rayquaza, Regigigas (with Regice, Regirock, and Registeel standing solidily behind it), Jirachi, Suicune, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, Celebi, Kyogre, and Dialga. Drifting counterclockwise in the middle were the Lake Trio and Phione.

I didn't particularly care. Though I would have expected to be thoroughly fascinated by what was about to occur, I found myself bored witless before Arceus even opened his mouth. There was a strange, uncurable 'itch' at the back of my mind, and whenever I tried to 'scratch' it I came away with images of Mew.

"This marks yet another anniversary since the humans arrived..." he began.

"Yeah, what are we on, now?" I asked, cutting him off, externally suave but internally slapping my paws across my mouth in fear.

"Will whoever is doing it please stop exerting the Collective Mind upon Diego?" said Mesprit quickly. "I feel he should act as himself, not as everyone expects Mew to act."

"Go jump in a lake," muttered Groudon.

"Hey!" yelled Azelf.

"_Quiet!_" barked Arceus. "I agree with Mesprit. Heatran, stop it. Mesprit, release Diego from the Collective Mind."

The Lava Dome Pokémon grumbled and shifted slightly. The strange subconscious prodding that had caused me to act more like Mew immidiately abated.

"...The Collective Mind?"

"The Collective Mind," spouted Uxie instantly, sounding somewhat like Ren's Pokédex. "A technique used by most powerful Legendary Pokémon to influence others based upon how the general collective is thinking. It can be used as a method of voting that cannot be lied or cheated past, though Mesprit would certainly know if such a thing happened in any case. To be removed from the Collective Mind is usually a source of shame; however, in this instance it is to let you retain your personality."

I blinked, nonplussed.

"Because everyone present excepting Phione and yourself, Diego, has been part of this pantheon for upwards of five-hundred years..."

In the center, Phione smiled and waved at me. "I'm only seventy!"

"...we, myself included, have begun having certain expectations regarding the Progenitor or Mischeif-Maker, that is to say, Mew, whose Office you are filling. Due to those expectations, the Collective Mind is exerting pressure upon you to behave in a manner similar to Mew."

"It is a terribly frightening thing when you first experience it," said Mesprit, continuing as the Knowledge Pokémon fell silent. "All of us have experienced it at one time or another, and we all know. But it's so difficult to expect anything different from a personality as distinctive as Mew's..."

"You will be rejoined to the Mind slowly," said Arceus. "So the pressures are not immidiately thrust upon you, as Heatran especially was attempting to do. Of course your personality will change, there is no going around that..."

I stared around at all the other Pokémon, who responded with looks of indifference, agreement, support, and, in one case, irritation. "I'm not sure... I mean, okay, I guess, but..."

"Back to the matter at hand," Arceus began, and the authoritive timbre in his voice caused everyone to look towards him. "It's been twelve-thousand years now, give or take--"

"Twelve-thousand, one-hundred and two," said Uxie.

"Thank you, Knowledge," said Arceus tersely. "If I may get to the point?" No one else spoke. "Thank you. Now...

"As you know, we usually only do something special for these anniversaries on the centennials, but I have noticed a growing amount of tension between certain counterparts..." The Creator paused slightly, his eyes flicking towards Groudon and then Kyogre, "...haven't been getting on quite as well as they should."

"What?" spat Kyogre.

"Yeah, what d'you mean, Arceus?" asked Groudon.

"Don't play me for a fool," said Arceus. "I created you. I _know_ what you do when you think I'm not looking."

There was an ominous silence following this semiprofound statement. Then Groudon whimpered, "...Everything?"

"Everything--Hm?" Arceus paused as Dialga leaned toward her brother and whispered something. "Will she? Coming from her, that's amazing."

"I don't think she will mean it as a compliment..." Dialga said aloud.

Arceus made a motion akin to a shrug. "Anyway. Everyone will spend the next decade with their counterparts, including myself but excepting Diego."

Everyone except Arceus, Phione, and I groaned.

"A decade?" Then I noticed that Arceus had mentioned me. "...Me? Why not?"

"You are new," stated Uxie. Arceus' eyes flashed at the Knowledge Pokémon, apparently angry that a subservient legendary Pokémon would continually steal the words out of his mouth. "This is a grand opportunity for you to meet everyone else."

All the Pokémon were eying their counterparts warily. Groudon and Kyogre were practically firing Hyper Beams out of their eyes at the other. Heatran shrugged and waddled away; Celebi and Manaphy, with Phione, were smiling slightly.

Then I noticed Azelf staring in my direction somewhat reluctantly. I stared back, dumbfounded.

With no warning, Uxie began speaking from behind me. I jumped nearly four feet as the Knowledge Remnant's voice spoke behind me, "Azelf and Mew are counterparts--The Being of Willpower and the Being of, if you will, Fun, which are more or less inherently opposite."

I turned back to look at Uxie who, of course, kept his eyes closed. "Do you scare people regularly?"

"Forgive me. I am simply used to being unable to scare Mew." Uxie drifted past me and back to Mesprit.

"At least it's only a decade..." muttered Darkrai quite audibly from the other side of the chamber.

Cresselia _humph!_ed.

"So it is said," barked Palkia.

There was an indecipherable mumble from the crowd.

"_So it is said!_" shouted Azelf, rather louder than the Spacial Pokémon.

"...So it shall be done," was heard half-heartedly.

"Away," said Arceus to the crowd. "Starting next week you're rooming with your counterpart. Enjoy your momentary reprieve. Just... get out of my sight, you bunch of immature children!"

I could understand Arceus' frustration. For gods, the Legendaries were awfully immature.

"_Return to your duties!"_ shouted Azelf, eyes still locked on mine.

_Whoosh! _At the command of the Remnant of Willpower, every Pokémon in the Hall, aside from Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus himself, were swept away and back to their domains.

I found myself back in one of the chairs in Mew's abode, but I hardly noticed this--I was still confused about the odd way the deities seemed to operate, a manner which I'd never noticed before. More importantly, however, I was concerned about what I had seen in Azelf's eyes.

__

Is he... jealous that I've taken Mew's spot?

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry for the delay. What else can I say? I've been working on other things--though recently I have to admit I haven't been working on anything at all.


	9. 8: Complications

I don't own Pokémon or any related copyrights. Nintendo does.

****

Chapter 8 - Complications

+Mew+

We popped back into existence somewhere above the jungle on Kin Island. I was so busy focusing on my language skills that I didn't know we were sinking until Poz screamed '_Meeeew!_'

I blinked, looked down, and realized I still had hold of May. Poz was still on top of her head, and we were falling.

I attempted to correct this last, and managed to split my head open again. I'd never had to lift so much weight with my mind.

_**Holy Arceus,** you're heavy!_I screamed at May, who probably didn't hear me, as she was screaming too loudly.

'_Mew! Do _something!' screamed Poz.

I gathered what remained of my power after blowing it out trying to reverse our trajectory, focused on the spot of ground just below us, and teleported.

Somwhere along the way we apparently gained some forward momentum I hadn't considered. As we rematerialized, May stumbled and tripped, Poz flying off of her head. I, mentally exhausted, drifted forward and landed gently in front of her.

There was silence for a moment.

"What in Mew's name is going on?" sputtered May, picking herself up. I rolled over and grinned weakly at her. "...Wha?"

_Hi,_ I telepathed weakly_._

"...No. No way," said May, backing away.

_Yes, way. _I shook my head and floated back into the air. _Sorry about all that. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going._

"Where you were _going!?_" May retorted, pulling a yellow PokéNav out of her bag. "We're... we're on _Kin Island._ That's gotta be..." She mouthed something. "I don't know how far that is from Pewter City."

_Don't worry!_ I shot down her complaint_. I can get you back in a flash._

"Well!?"

There was silence for a moment as I failed to comprehend exactly what it was she wanted.

__

You mean... now?

"Of course _now!_" she shrieked, stamping her foot childishly.

_Why on Earth would you want to go back now?_ I rolled my eyes._ The fun's just getting started._

"Fun!?"

_Listen,_ I snapped, finally irritated with her attitude. _I can't bring you back right now no matter how much you ask. You just vanished from a Pokémon Center in one of the country's most-visited cities. Not only that, but you did it in the company of a Mew--a Pokémon that to most people has been extinct for millenia._

There was silence again.

"Oh," said May. "I get it."

'_...I don't,_' said Poz seriously. I twitched, having nearly forgotten the Plusle's precence. I just shook my head.

"So... Uh... Mew..."

I cocked my head.

"...Why were you in Pewter City anyway, masquerading as a Pachirisu?"

_I was on vacation,_ I said simply.

May digested this. She didn't ask questions--and from her mind there was a sense of blank agreement: "It's a Mew. It's a Pokémon that's supposed to be extinct. I don't care how wacky what it says is."

_I am a _she_, thank you very much, I admonished her sourly. _

"So... You can't just dump me on Two Island Town and be done with it?" she asked, sounding somewhat hopeful.

__

Don't count on it. People'll be looking for you. Gotta wait for the initial panic and shock to blow over.

"So... I'm just supposed to stay out here in the jungle for a few weeks? No food, and no company?"

'_Hey,'_ said Poz forlornly, sounding hurt. I doubled the image and sent it into May's mind, along with a _Hey!_ of my own.

"...No food, no real supplies?" she corrected herself.

__

You'll deal. I'm gonna be here, by the way.

"Yyeah..." said May, drawing out the word as if she wasn't sure that was a good prospect, eyeing me with something that bordered on irritation.

_It was your Pokémon I was after, alright?_ I said finally_. They helped me after I took a nosedive into a trashcan. Five thousand years of... deity protocol... I slowed and then stopped as I realized what I'd said._

"Deity? Five thousand years?"

_AsadeityIwasobligedtorewardanymortalcreaturethateverhelpedoraidedmeinanymannerandnowthatI'mnotadeityforthefirsttimeinfivethousandyearsI'mnotabouttolosethehabitinahurry,_I thought at her so fast that the words probably turned into a maelstrom of intent in her mind.

"What do you mean, a deity?"

I sighed. At least we had something to talk about.

I could tell already, however, that it was going to be a long few weeks.

* * *

Once again, sorry for the delay, and I do hope putting two chapters up nearly simultaneously helps. Somewhat. I have to admit I've rather lost the flow of this story--but chapter 7 had been done for some time and I figured I'd make an eighth just to leave it even.

I'm sorry if it seems choppy--believe me, I know. It's simply a matter of getting back into the story.

Until next time...


End file.
